I wanted to do a little thought experiment with New York Times reporter Natasha Singer.

Go ahead.

Natasha covers how digital platforms are changing childhood and adolescence.

So let's say that I am 15 years old.

I have an Instagram account.

I have public settings, and I have been posting and putting things on my stories, looking at all sorts of stuff online.

What happens this week to my account?

Well, Instagram announced these significant privacy changes this week,

in which they said they're going to make all the accounts of teens under 16,

so 13, 14, 15-year-olds, private by default.

The policy will start with any new accounts that kids under 16 sign up for. The policy will start with any new accounts that kids under 16 sign up for.

Then, over the course of the next 60 days, Instagram will roll this out for all kids under 16.

Their accounts will be private by default.

Only your approved followers can see your posts, can like your posts, can comment on

your posts. And if you are a teen with hundreds of followers or you're a teen influencer with

thousands of followers and you're 14 or 15, the public will not be able to see your posts.

And that's going to be a major change. Also, Instagram says that if you are under 16, you won't be able to make your posts, and that's going to be a major change. Also, Instagram says that

if you are under 16, you won't be able to make your accounts public again without getting a

parent's permission. Instagram says the change will affect tens of millions of accounts, and will start

first in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K. Next year, the policy will spread to accounts in other countries.

Why do you think this is happening now? Well, there's two answers to that, the Instagram answer

and the what's happening in popular culture and in Congress answer. Instagram told us that they had surveyed parents, and this was designed to respond to

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